Microsoft to Unveil Next Xbox on May 21st

Microsoft are set to announce their future console on May 21st it has been officially announced.

The Xbox maker has sent out invitations to a special event where "A new generation [will be] revealed."

According to the invitation recieved by Kotaku "Don Mattrick and the Xbox team invite you to the Xbox campus for a special unveiling."

Mattrick is Microsoft's President of Interactive Entertainment Business for Xbox and usually hosts their E3 media briefings.

On Xbox's official Facebook page the company has also posted the banner at the top of this story. The website XboxEvent.com has also appeared online though visitors are currently met with a 403 Forbidden Access message.

Microsoft's event is set to being at 10:00 PDT, 13:00 EDT or 18:00 BST on May 21st. The event will be streamed online at xbox.com which has now been updated to reflect the announcement and will also be viewable on Spike TV in the US and Canada. Microsoft have also included the '#XboxReveal' Twitter hashtag in the invitation which you can see below.

Over on Larry Hryb aka Major Nelson's blog there's a timer to the event showing it's currently 26 days until the announcement.

Hryb commented "[On May 21st] We'll share our vision for Xbox, and give you a real taste of the future. Then, 19 days later at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, we'll continue the conversation and showcase our full lineup of blockbuster games."

While that would seem to suggest the Xbox pre-E3 press conference will take place on June 9th Microsoft has confirmed to Polygon that their media briefing is set for 10th June at 10:00 PDT, the same day as Ubisoft's and EA's briefing. Neither Sony nor Nintendo have announced the time or date of their press conferences.

It is believed that a new Forza and Crytek's Ryse are among the games being developed for the console's launch window. Earlier today a retailer listed an 'Upcoming Halo' title for the Xbox 360 though should Microsoft choose to release the Xbox 720 (or whatever they ultimately name it) this year it's quite possible the game will be a cross-gen title.

Yesterday job listings appeared to confirm that the console will feature X86 architecture. There has been some speculation that the console may need a constant internet connection to play games however there have also been rumours that this will not be the case. Either way we should know more next month.